


concede

by saltyvenus



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-10 23:01:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17435120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyvenus/pseuds/saltyvenus
Summary: the bartender is as annoying and flirty as she looks, but her brown eyes are glued. zadison au.





	1. one

red and blue flashes all across the club, hints of green too. it makes zoe’s vision blurry and her head insanely sore, but she’s glad she’s sitting down at the bar rather than dancing. mallory and coco wave at her from the dance floor, in which she does the same back, plastering a smile on her face. but the second zoe turns back round, her smile drops. they dragged her out here for some fun, but zoe dreaded outings, parties or just being with other people in general, like the little anti-social freak she was. the nicest thing the two girls had done all night was to just let zoe sulk in the corner or whatever. it’s not like it bothered her that much, or at all for that matter.

zoe swirls her cup, watching the contents inside spill slightly over the top. she’s never acquired the taste of alcohol, zoe’s never been a drinker, but she  _ needed _ it this time, at least to get through the night. 

the club is hot, and stuffy. the atmosphere makes her chest feel like it’s being pushed down on and her head isn’t making it any better. zoe bites her lip and continues to swirl around the glass until the liquid inside eventually spills over completely on the bar counter. 

“fuck.” she mutters, picking up the glass that thankfully, did not break. someone chuckles over the counter, but her eyes can’t seem to adjust until the person speaks up.

“damn, nothing makes me jizz in my pants more than a woman who swears.” zoe looks up at the bartender. she’s got this charming smile and brown, no hazel, wait no, they’re actually green. green eyes that sort of stare right back at her. but they’re probably a nice shade, zoe thinks, however she can’t see clearly with all the flashing lights. her hair, it’s like, blonde or something. but not bleach blonde, no, her roots are brown so it makes zoe think that she’s had it dyed or whatever in the past. it’s really pretty though, the light blonde tips end right past her shoulders, kind of like her own.

“excuse me?” zoe asks, knotting her eyebrows together. she squints, trying to look at her name tag.  _ madison. _

“i didn’t say anything, babe. just close your pretty little mouth and i’ll take care of the mess you made.” she replies, fetching a small towel from underneath the counter.

zoe wants to say something back, something for being so rude, but this girl is so beautiful that she can’t take her eyes off her. the more zoe squints, the more she looks recognizable. and the name sort of rings a bell too, but she needed the rest to complete the flow of the sentence.

zoe opens her mouth while madison cleans up the spilt liquid in front of her. “are you famous? i’ve definitely seen you somewhere.”

madison stands up, chuckling. “yeah, yeah. i was, actually.” she smirks. “madison montgomery, movie star.”

something clicks in zoe’s brain, and she slaps her forehead in realization. “right. a d-lister.”

usually, things like that would anger the blonde, but because the girl in front of her is so fucking cute, she can’t help but let it slide this time. “i’ll be happy to take you back to my place to show you my multiple teen choice awards. and other things.” she bites her lip seductively. “if you know what i mean.”

zoe’s about to open her mouth, probably to say something like “that’s so gross,” or “i have a boyfriend,” but a drunken coco and a barely sober mallory come up to her from behind, grabbing at her face and shit.

coco mumbles something incoherent, which zoe isn’t even sure is english, and mallory starts laughing. the brunette peels coco off of her and pushes her away, eyebrows furrowed. when zoe turns to the other side, she sees mallory passed out on the floor next to her. coco is still bouncing around like a child, laughing at her friend on the floor. 

“coco, sit down.” god, she feels like a mother. coco does what she says and eventually shuts up, feeling her eyelids become heavy before ending up just like her brunette friend on the ground.

zoe looks up at madison hopelessly, who only smirks in response.

“sorry, they can get quite...hyper.” zoe apologizes.

madison looks over the counter at mallory, a chuckle escaping her lips. “i can see. want me to bring her water for when she wakes up?” she asks, and zoe nods.

filling up a plastic bottle from one of the sinks, madison hands it to the brunette, who grips it tightly. “thanks. now i have to call an uber just to get them back home.” zoe rolls her eyes.

“you don’t have a car?”

“i don’t even have a driving license.” she says. 

madison furrows her dark brows. “wait, how old are you?”

“nineteen, i’m turning twenty in may. you?”

the blonde snatches the cup of alcohol sitting in front of zoe, instead throwing the liquid into the sink. “no more drinks for you, sweetheart. and on top of it you still look twelve.”  _ but in a cute way _ . she mentally adds on. “do they check your id when you go to college just to make sure?” madison smirks.

zoe’s eyes are hard, burning into the other girl’s face. “no, they don’t surprisingly. and you look no older than me.”

“i’m twenty-one. i can actually buy alcohol and  _ afford _ it.”

“not if you work in a place like this.” zoe counters back. “what’s the salary here? three dollars every two hours?”

“five, actually. close though.” madison jokes, and zoe lets a giggle slip. at least she has some sense of humor, madison thinks. “oh, what’s your name? i didn’t quite catch it.”

“should i really be giving my name to a stranger?”

madison flicks her blonde hair over her shoulder. “i’m not a stranger, i’m a movie star.”

“right,” zoe clicks her tongue. “when was the last time you made a movie?”

“last night, actually.” the blonde pulls out her phone from her pocket sneakily, as to make sure her boss or whatever doesn’t yell at her. but with the music and lights, it seems as though no one really cared. “it’s a pretty good film. you should watch it.”

“really? where can i find it?” zoe asks, much to madison’s surprise, even pulling out her own phone.

madison bites her lip to stop herself from laughing. “mmh. pornhub.”

zoe looks up from her phone, face scrunched up in such disgust. “you are so….revolting!” she yells, and madison only laughs harder.

“i can’t believe you..” she has to take a break between each word because her stomach is hurting so much. “and you were going to look it up!”

zoe crosses her arms in her seat, annoyance plastered all across her face. she doesn’t feel like discussing anymore, let alone with someone so immature.  _ how was she a movie star if she acts like this? _

zoe huffs. mallory slurs from the floor. 

“uhh. zoe..” she mumbles drunkenly, reaching up to tug at the end of her shirt. “i feel like shit..”

“i know, mallory, i know. we’re going home soon.” she says, patting her younger friend’s head. she turns to madison, all irritation pushed beside. “did you serve her?”

madison shakes her head. “nope. we have an id rule for the bar, so i would’ve remembered her face. she also looks three.”

“you didn’t id me, though.”

“yeah, well, it’s too late now. i didn’t make your drink and my dumbass coworkers always forget.” madison says. zoe just continues to stare at her. “fine, whatever. gimme your stupid id.”

zoe reluctantly hands over the card from her wallet, madison snatching it up the second her fingers made contact.

she squints. “zoe benson. aw.” the blonde says. “your pic’s cute.”

the brunette glares, but the blush crawling up her cheeks doesn’t make any effort to disappear.

madison smiles, her perfect set of white teeth showing. “that’s pretty fucking adorable.” she hands back her the card.

“thanks.” she murmurs, face red. from below, mallory attempts to get up, but her vision is blurry and she feels like shit.

madison snickers. “your friend’s gonna have one hell of a hangover.”

zoe finally gets up from her seat, waking up coco and pulling mallory off the floor. immediately, the brunette leans into zoe, leaving the other girl to carry her full weight. “coco, come on. we’re going home.”

the blonde staggers out of the chair, but she’s managing.  

“no goodbye kiss?” madison asks from over the counter. “miss zoe benson?”

over her shoulder, zoe glares, dragging her friends across to the emergency exit door behind. “whatever, bye.”

madison smiles and watches her leave, going back to what she was doing in the very first place; cleaning the counter. she realizes she never properly got rid of that spilt alcohol stain, too busy occupied with one of her many customers. madison feels herself smiling. it’s not everyday you see someone like her around.

the music’s getting louder, reminding madison that her shift is almost over for the night. she never works too late into the evening, just because she can’t be  _ bothered _ . it gets too crazy and madison doesn’t like to deal with flocks of drunk people, even if it is her job.

as the lights keep flashing, she notices a small black square sitting peacefully in the seat in front.

madison leans over to pick it up, inspecting slightly. her smirk is wide.

“forgot your wallet.” 

  
  



	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for typos im lazy

madison’s back at the bar again. it’s a friday night which means it gets a little  _ too _ crazy. all the frat boys come in, the divorced middle aged men, wine moms, requesting a drink. it’s safe to say madison sucks at mixing drinks, and her job in general, but everyone’s too distracted to care. most of the time she just hangs back and lets her coworkers do all the hard work, getting paid twice as much just cause she’s famous and a movie star and her boss is too scared to fire her. 

madison hangs behind the club in some dodgy alleyway, taking a drag out of her cigarette. it’s the middle of january and it’s  _ cold. _ even with her long sleeved uniform she still shivers, the cigarette being the only thing warming her up internally. usually it never gets this cold in the south, but new orleans’ weather is bipolar and madison can’t do anything about it. she tilts her head and blows the smoke up. 

“uh. bartender girl? madison?” a soft voice says behind her, quiet enough to not be heard over the loud music inside, but madison still catches it.

she grunts, bringing the blunt to her lips again. “i don’t do autographs anymore, sorry.”

the footsteps get closer, and madison forces herself to turn around. she chuckles slightly at the sight of her, but her lips soon turn to a straight line, blowing the smoke down towards the ground.

“shouldn’t be out here alone, kid. it’s dangerous.” madison leans against the brick wall. “not the safest shortcut.”

zoe sighs, shoving her cold hands into her coat. “i forgot my wallet in there the other night, and they won’t let me inside because i don’t have my id card.” she says. when she looks up at the blonde, she can’t help but realize her mood change, completely different from the other night, zoe notices. she’s less flirty and more...cold. not to mention she’s less playful towards her.

madison grumbles, pulling it out from the little pouch she was forced to wear as part of her uniform. “here,” she mutters against the cigarette. “you’re lucky i was the one to find it.”

zoe lets out a breath of relief, taking the wallet from her cold hands. their fingers make contact, and zoe pulls away almost immediately, shocked by the lack of warmth. it’s like a dead body, completely rid of all heat.

madison’s reaching the end of her cigarette. she throws it on the ground and stomps on it, the ashes flying all around her. zoe just stares at her, and madison only glares back. with the streetlights beaming on her face, zoe can now see it more clearly than she did the night before. her eyes were, in fact, green. not hazel, but a very specific and distinct shade that she could now never mistake for any other color. the brunette takes this as her que to leave.

she mumbles a quick “thank you” and slowly starts to back away, but not without thinking about her sudden change in nature. not that it pressed her that much, she barely knew her.

“wait, benson.” her voice is hoarse and gravely, no doubt from the cigarette. zoe turns around, eyebrows raised. “yes?”

madison jingles her car keys in her fingers, nervously. she clicks her tongue, not making eye contact and instead staring at the ground. “get home safe, alright?”

zoe manages a small smile, one that madison looks up to see. it’s cute. it makes her bubbly inside. 

“i will, thanks.” 

* * *

zoe sinks into the small sofa, surrounded by books from the shelves. her college always  _ did _ have some interesting reads occasionally. her current book was ‘pride and prejudice’ for her english paper, but she quite enjoyed reading it even out of class. in fact, she spent most of her time in the library when she wasn’t in class, just simply engulfed by the world of literature. bookworm, you might call it.

“hey!” a voice rings, well,  _ multiple _ voices, and zoe doesn’t have time to look up before she’s getting sandwiched between her boyfriend kyle and coco. they both nudge her, causing the brunette to drop her book on the floor and the librarian shushing them. 

“hey, guys.” zoe says softly, picking up her book from the ground. as she does so, mallory and queenie join them, thankfully saving her from the childish blondes, and they sit on the small bean bags in front of the sofa. 

“did you have fun last night, babe?” kyle asks, throwing an arm around her skinny shoulders. zoe shrugs, flicking through the book pages.

“debatable.” 

“oh my god you guys, i was  _ so _ drunk!” coco whines. “i had, like, the  _ worst _ hangover ever, i was almost late to class!”

queenie snorts and mallory chuckles, propping her feet up on the small coffee table. “yeah, i had a killer headache this morning.” she groans just thinking about it. “i’m glad zoe was there though, our savior.” mallory puts her hands together, acting like she was praying to the taller brunette.

zoe lets out a small smile, sighing slightly. “you passed out on the floor. i was kinda debating whether i should leave you there or not.” she jokes, and mallory scoffs playfully.

“i bet coco was worse!” 

zoe shakes her head, widely smiling now. “oh yeah, she might’ve thrown up in the uber.” 

mallory bursts out laughing, toppling backwards onto the carpet. the librarian shushes them again, but mallory only wipes the tears out of her eyes. “w-wow…” 

coco frowns, nudging zoe with her shoulder. “i did  _ not _ . all i had was three shot of tequila, some vodka, maybe some fireball- i’m not quite sure…” she counts off on her fingers, voice slowly reducing to a mumble so quiet it might as well be said in her head.

next to her, kyle chuckles. “doesn’t a movie star work there? oh, what’s her name…” he thinks hard, then suddenly snaps his fingers. “madison montgomery! right?”

zoe stiffens slightly at the thought of her. the blonde’s grumpy remarks from last night didn’t leave her mind, as well as her flat out flirting with zoe a few days back. mallory nods at kyle’s comment, who flashes his boyish smile.

queenie speaks up, scoffing. “if half the shit they say on tmz about her is true, then she sounds like a huge bitch. not to mention her acting…”

zoe steps in, not that she wanted to, but a sudden  _ urge _ inside her forced its way out of her mouth. “yeah, well, tmz isn’t always correct, queenie.” she defends.

queenie just looks at her, confused but slightly smirking. “damn sis, why are you getting so defensive?”

the tall brunette blushes and sinks into the couch, looking back down at her book to avoid eye contact. she lets her fingers linger over the soft, milky page.  _ she found my wallet, i don’t think that’s a bitch move.  _ zoe thinks. of course she doesn’t  _ say _ that, but it circles around her head a couple times. “i-i’m not.” she blurts out. “just judging people about things that might not even be accurate isn’t the kindest.”

queenie brushes it off, shrugging. “whatever.” she mumbles. kyle looks at her skeptically, but when zoe looks up at him, he only grins and kisses her forehead. 

“lunch?” he proposes.

* * *

madison huffs, jamming her key into the lock. after twisting and turning the piece of metal shit, the door to her apartment finally opens.

“fucking fin _ alllly.”  _ she breathes out, slamming the door behind her. her roommate, violet harmon, was out for the night, but she’d probably be back soon. she always comes back a few hours after madison finishes her shift at the club.

how they met was quite a funny story, actually. back when madison was still living in los angeles, producing hollywood movies and shit, she worked part time at a hot topic. for cash, you know. her agency wasn’t paying her money because, well, that’s how some industries work, and how else was a seventeen year old meant to make cash?

so madison hauled her ass over there, they were hiring anyways, and spent hours in a musty shop watching edgy teens pick out ugly clothes that she could never wear. it was the worst job ever, but at least she was getting paid, i guess. she actually met violet right as madison was closing up the store, the stupid bitch  _ had _ to come in a minute before closing time. at first, she was like “oh, just another emo hoe,” but it was safe to say they quickly bonded. violet was a smart girl, and even if she saw the world differently than madison, they had a strong connection.

as madison was getting more roles and, essentially, more successful, violet was just about to graduate high school. she did it easily, but with all the stress and shit, she decided to just take a gap year before going to college.

they had moved to new orleans a few months after that, for madison to shoot a movie (which would’ve been a huge ass hit, by the way), but unfortunately the funding fell through and it got cancelled. if madison and violet were being honest, they couldn’t be bothered to go back to LA, so they just decided to stay here. and eventually, violet enrolled in college.

in present time, madison hums as she sits on the couch, flicking through different shows and movies on netflix. her back aches because of work, but she’s also worn out from last night. as madison yawns and picks a random movie to watch, the front door opens.

“i’m home,” violet says in a sing-song voice, and madison peeks her head up from the back of the couch, just barely seeing the other girl take off her shoes. “whatcha watching?”

madison turns back around and shrugs, looking at the tv inattentively. “something ugly.” she yawns again as violet sits down next to her. “is it just me or are you really tired too?”

violet chuckles, bringing her knees up to her chest. “you were too busy fucking that random girl last night and i didn’t get a drop of sleep.” the brunette sighs, and madison shakes her head with a smirk. “maybe you be more quiet next time.”

“please, the girls love it when they scream my name.” she scoffs playfully. “you’re just mad because that creepy guy, tate, is stalking you all the way from L.A.”

violet shoves a throw pillow in the face and pushes onto the couch. “he’s cute, okay?”

madison breathes heavily as the pillow is removed, only to throw it back to violet. “fine, fine, but if he shows up at our doorstep with a nirvana cd and flowers, i’m moving out.” she jokes. violet sticks her tongue out and gets up, feeling hungry as she makes her way to the kitchen.

madison lets out a soft sigh as she puts her hands behind her head. her eyelids are heavy, threatening to close, but before she does, madison thinks about that cute brunette girl one last before she’s consumed by tiredness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> usually im terrible with multiple chapter stories cause ts hard to keep consistency, but I thinks its going gr8 so far ???? also violet and mads would totally be bffs😤

**Author's Note:**

> first chapter hope u enjoyed


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